Vince reports healthy sales growth in third quarter

Luxury apparel and accessories group Vince has reported a 3.4 percent increase in net sales to 86.4 million US dollars in the third quarter.

The New York-based group reported 8 million US dollars in net income - or 0.67 US dollars per diluted share - up from 6.8 million US dollars in the same period the year before.

Excluding costs associated with the brand’s acquisition of Rebecca Taylor and Parker in November, adjusted net income was 8.7 million US dollars or 0.73 US dollars per diluted share.

Direct-to-Consumer comparable sales grew a strong 9.5 percent year-on-year.

Wholesale segment sales were down 3.6 percent to 51.1 million US dollars compared to 53 million US dollars in the same period last year. The company said this was due to “lower shipments to the off-price channel, the acceleration of seasonal wholesale deliveries into the second quarter and the seasonal timing of return reserves.”

At the end of the quarter, Vince had 63 company-operated stores, a net increase of four stores since the same period in fiscal 2018.

Brendan Hoffman, chief executive officer, said in a statement: “Our strong performance in the third quarter further demonstrates the continued momentum in the Vince brand. The growth in our direct-to-consumer business was led by our e-commerce channel and we remain pleased with the performance of our retail stores. In our wholesale channel, we continue to see evidence of market share gains and are excited to have expanded floor space in key doors.

“As we look ahead, we remain focused on advancing our strategic initiatives, which include growing our direct-to-consumer business through the expansion of our store base globally, driving market share gains within the wholesale channel, testing new product categories, and refining our marketing efforts to drive traffic and conversion.

“We are also very excited about the recently announced acquisition of Rebecca Taylor and Parker, which enabled us to form a global contemporary fashion group. We believe that the successful strategic initiatives employed by Vince will allow us to significantly grow these two brands on a global scale. We are well positioned to be leaders in the global contemporary space, which will allow us to drive long-term profitable and sustainable growth.”

Photo credit: Vince, Facebook